Unforgettable Focaccia in Lucca, Tuscany

Focaccia is popular bread in Italy, usually seasoned with olive oil and salt, but can also be with herbs, cheese or onions.  According to Wikipedia, "the word is derived from the Latin focus meaning 'hearth, place for baking' as in ancient Rome, panis focacius was a flat bread baked on the hearth. Yes, sometimes, reading my blog can be an educational or a place for useless learning, ha ha ha.

Anyway, we were in Lucca, Northern Tuscany in late May this year, and we went to this restaurant, L'Antico Sigillo on Via degli Angeli for lunch. The place is a bit away from the main touristy area of walled city of Lucca. When you are seated, they bring you a basket of freshly baked foccacia whilst perusing the menu. The focaccia was just nice and fluffy with crunchy tops drizzled with olive oil to prevent it from over-drying/baked but yet still retain moisture, and it is sprinkled with good amount of rock salt. This is really yummy.  You could just keep having this wonderful bread with a glass of wine, nothing else as it's that gooood. And you would wish you could just do that but you do actually need to order something.

Mmmmm, focaccia  .....

Could she be the one who made that Focaccia!!!

Mushroom pizza - I think she made this.... 

Their focaccia is really 'unforgettable' and you got to try this.  To tell you the truth, this was our 2nd time going to this restaurant. My husband found this place few years ago. As we don't eat meat, the menu choices seem a bit limited to me at this restaurant. I remember that I had a tomato spaghetti then and this time I had this again, and my husband had mushroom pizza then and this time again too. I think my husband enjoyed the pizza both times. Unfortunately forcccia is the only thing that was really unforgettable. Other dishes were fine, nothing special if I can remember, however despite that, I wanted to come back to this restaurant again because of their focaccia and so we did. It is still worth going there, just to try their wonderful bread. 

Besides, Lucca is a lovely place. You can easily get there by train from Pisa or Montecatini Term where we stayed or even from Florence. There is a lovely cake shop I must tell you ... well, I shall keep this for another day.

Locals cycle around the town. You can also rent a bicycle too.

Well, that's all forks!

Erotic Salad in Lucca, Tuscany

It's been 2 months since we were in Northern Tuscany and so as last time I blogged about food.... time flies so fast when you keep eating but not blogging.

I was looking through all photos while we were in Lucca and I have forgotten to blog about this salad I had in a bistro named, Paris Boheme (http://www.parisbohemelucca.com) in Piazza Cittadella, within the ancient wall of Lucca. Just head towards Puccini's statue and the bistro is right next to it.

You got to try their insalata erotica or Erotic Salad!  Yes, it's not exotic, it's called erotic salad! I don't know why it's 'erotic' but it's a lovely salad - mixture of salad leaves, few different kinds of cheese (mozzarella pecorino,  I think ...), fruits, raisins and edible flowers, etc and you just pour over good quality Tuscan olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dressing. You would not think these combinations may not work but it actually does work well!!! They were really refreshing and lovely! Perfect lunch for a nice summer day with nice crusty bread!

Mixture of everything - melon, apple, pear, orange, strawberry, kiwi, currents, apricot, salad leaves, mozzarella, pecorino cheese, nuts, seeds, edible flowers, etc......

My husband had porcini tagliatelle - he loves mushrooms so he really enjoyed this too.

Statue of Puccini. 

If you ever visit Lucca, you should definitely try this salad.

That's all forks!

Vino in Lucca, Tuscany

We have just been to Lucca, a lovely city in Northern Tuscany, surrounded by Renaissance-era city walls. It is only appx. 30 minutes by train from Montecatini Term where we are currently staying and this is also the place where you change a train if you want to go to Pisa to see the famous leaning tower or to visit seaside town of Viareggio. Lucca is also the birthplace of composer, Giacomo Puccini famous for La Boheme and Madama Butterfly.

Lucca is a lovely small town yet there are always somewhere we could go and 'look at' in Lucca, ha ha ha.

We went to the Cathedral of St Martin in Piazza S. Martino, just inside the city wall. There is Labyrinth, the maze embedded in the right pier of the portico, dating back to the 12th century.

Every time we came to Lucca, we just had a quick look at the Labyrinth but never actually went inside. This time we did go inside ... it was really lovely to see beautiful artwork on the ceiling.

As we were leaving Piazza S Martino to head toward the centre of the city, we found a wine bar which we have never noticed before. Enoteca Calasto (http://www.lucca-wine-treasures.com/winebar.php) is in the small piazza, Piazza S. Giovanni, promoting and serving local wines from Lucca region. 

We tried a glass of red wine, Libente Toscana, which was lovely, that came with some olives, small peppers stuffed with tuna and some crisps. We really enjoyed all these in a very relaxed atmosphere.

By the time we finished our glasses, the weather had improved with the sun coming out. We then decided to move toward the centre of the town to look for a restaurant for lunch.

We also notice that the Calasto has some wine tasting menu so we shall come back to Lucca another time to try that.

That's all forks!